All That Glitters
by Othellia
Summary: Anna is in the middle of a visit to the Kingdom of Corona when a mysterious blizzard strikes. As the only person with semi-relevant experience, she sets out to find out what - or who - is behind it all. However, there's only one man who seems to hold any answers, and he might be more trouble than he's worth… (Sequel fic, eventual Hanna.)
1. Act One: Part One

**A/N: So this ****is pretty much my brain's response to "how can I make a Hans/Anna fic that actually sticks to both canon events and characterization and have it still _work_?". Yeah. I'm not planning on glossing over Hans' actions from the film in the slightest. It's going to be a fun ride.**

**This has a slight crossover with Tangled, but I'm sure that's nothing new for fandom at this point. Also Elsa will come in after the first act, and I'll add her to the list of tags when she does. Kristoff will also appear (following canon, he and Anna are currently in a relationship), but won't have that much screen time comparatively.**

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><p>"But it'd pretty much burn a hole in your tongue at that point, so after that you need to soak it for another five days-"<p>

"Anna!"

Anna turned to see a young woman in a dazzling purple dress quickly making her way towards her through the crowded ballroom. Even if she hadn't been wearing a small tiara, the woman would've stuck out by the ragged cropping of her brown hair.

Ever since Anna had first visited Corona, she'd overheard various ladies of the court making either disparaging comments or sad lamentations about the princess' unfortunate follicle fate. Her hair had not grown a single inch since the day she'd reappeared.

Anna honestly thought it was perfect just the way it was. She'd never heard her cousin complain about it, so that was that. Then again, maybe a girl who'd grown up with a perpetual white streak wasn't the best judge when it came to perfect hair, even if it'd already been two years since it'd regained its original color.

"Rapunzel!" Anna cried as her cousin reached her side. The two clasped hands, bouncing slightly in glee. "I'm so sorry! I know I should've found you first, but would you believe it? The winds just suddenly stopped not even two hours from shore! The water was dead calm and everything. The captain was practically ready to break out the life boats and personally row me to shore when it finally picked up again. And then the party was in full swing by the time we docked so-"

"Don't worry, our messengers told us everything. And you look great. Did you get ready on the ship?"

"Yep. It wasn't that terrible either… although I can't help but feel like I smell like seaweed, even if Renaldo here keeps assuring me I'm- Oh!"

Anna's hand swept over her mouth in shock as she remembered her up-until-now conversation partner.

"I'm soooo so so sorry!" Anna said, turning to the tall, yet portly man. "This is Relnado, the Lord of… of…"

"Anjou."

"Anjou! And this is my cousin and the Crown Princess of Corona, Rapunzel."

"Your highness," Relnado said, sweeping into a seasoned bow. Then he turned to Anna. "I can see you two have a lot to catch up on. It was a pleasure making your acquaintance, Princess Anna."

"Oh, you don't have to go…" she trailed off as the older lord already began walking away. "Okay then."

As Anna sighed, Rapunzel gave her an encouraging smile.

"Was I rude?" Anna asked, turning to her cousin once again. "I think I might've been a bit rude. I mean, I didn't forget his title on purpose, and I do think the conversation was going rather well. Well, I guess I was doing most the talking. I don't think lutefisk is really a _thing _here."

"You were perfectly fine. I'm not going to lie; there are probably better conversation topics," Rapunzel said. "But overall I don't think you have anything to worry about. I just know you're going to be the most amazing junior member of the Arendelle consulate ever!"

Anna could help the smile that crept up the left side of her face.

She and Rapunzel were far from the closest cousins that ever walked the earth. In fact, they'd never even met until the days that had followed her sister's coronation, escape, and subsequent return. A double combo of one party being kidnapped by an evil witch as a baby and the other being sequestered in an empty castle out of a misplaced concern for her own safety didn't tend to create the closest extended family ties.

But met they had, and after that it was clear that some things were never going to be quite the same again.

For starters, Rapunzel had asked if Anna could come and visit her in Corona after all the chaos and whirlwind of emotional revelations had settled down. Anna had been hesitant at first, clinging to her elder sister with every second she had, but - after the first couple months proved that the castle gates were never going to close again - she'd accepted.

The two cousins had more in common than strangers might've realized. Hidden tower or imposing castle: there wasn't much of a difference when all you were was a prisoner inside. And given the chance to break free…

It hadn't been until the ship had left the harbor that Anna'd realized it was her first time being outside of Arendelle since she was four years old. When she'd finally arrived in her cousin's kingdom, her mind had gone into sensory overload.

And in a way, it'd never snapped out of it.

Intoxicated by her new experiences and the unique relationship between the new kingdoms, Anna had taken a new look into the governmental side of things. For so many years she'd just written herself off as the spare princess, the one destined to skip around cradling ducks and sliding across waxed wooden floors to pass the time. Not that she didn't like cradling ducks and sliding across wooden floors - quite the opposite in fact - but between Elsa ruling the kingdom and Kristoff always busy with his ice business, the potential of being able to help out and make a difference for once, her own personal and unique difference, really got her heart pounding.

So she'd talked it over with Kristoff and then had talked it over with Elsa and, a year of studying later, here she was, the newest and youngest member of Arendelle's consul to Corona, providing assistance and support to the official Ambassador.

Anna's only wish was that she had a cool pin or a badge or a medal or something to display as physical proof of her accomplishment, but she supposed the title would have to do.

"Sooo," Rapunzel continued. "How are things in Arendelle?"

"Good, good," Anna said with a smile. "Elsa's really warmed up into her whole 'queen' thing. Well, warmed up might not be the best choice of words, but you know what I mean. As for Kristoff, he's still caught up in the whole ice delivery reformation thing. Do you guys have ice delivers here? Anyway, you see it doesn't make that much sense to travel weeks into the mountains to grab ice when Elsa can just - poof - conjure some out of thin air, but she can't made ice for the whole kingdom because then she wouldn't have any time to get queen stuff done, and even if she did then there's all the questions on who gets to sell what ice? Does ice cost less now because it's easier to get? Should the people living in Arendelle itself get an additional discount because it gets created right there in the palace? If it's getting created in the palace, do they even need an ice deliver? Ugh! Personally it gives me a headache just thinking about it."

Rapunzel giggled. "Then I won't ask any further."

"You'd think that having magic powers and stuff would be a cause for cheer," Anna continued, now on a roll. "That people would go, 'Oh, our queen has super awesome magic ice powers? She must be the best queen ever!' Talk about never worrying about the threat of war!"

Several people turned their heads at the mention of the 'w' word, but Anna pressed on.

"I mean, if I was a random stranger, that's what I would certainly do. And don't get me wrong, everyone loves the city-wide skating rinks in the summer. But it's like every single tiny other little thing, they somehow manage to sink their hands in and turn it into a bureaucratic nightmare!" Her fingers curling as she mimed out the last part for extra emphasis.

"Sounds like you all are doing just fine."

"Yeah… I guess we are. Oh, and how have you and Eugene been doing?"

"Good. Good. Did you know just the other day…"

The two cousins continued chatting for a good remaining portion of the evening, inviting new people over and waving hello to others as the ebb and flow of the crowd saw fit. Anna excused herself at one point to grab some chocolate cake that'd been rolled out, bumped into her aunt who was as regal and soft-spoken as always, and got swept up into their - now usual - conversation about how she was looking more and more like her mother.

"Honestly, I think Elsa looks more like her than I ever did, but thank-"

"Ahem!"

The two women turned to see a rather nervous and harried looking servant clutching a small strip of paper.

"Yes?" the Queen of Corona asked.

"May I speak to your majesty? Alone please?"

The Queen frowned.

"Anna, dear," she said, briefly clasping her niece's hands. "Hopefully this should only take a second. Would you mind waiting here?"

"Umm, not at all."

The two swept out through an inconspicuous side door that Anna hadn't even noticed until then. She was still standing there, holding her uneaten piece of cake, when Rapunzel pushed her way through the crowd again with Eugene now in tow.

"What happened? I saw Mother just leave."

"I'm not sure. A servant interrupted us. I think he was holding some kind of message." Anna frowned. "It'd must of have been extremely urgent."

"You're probably right," Rapunzel said. Her face creased with worry. "But for her to leave like that… it can't be good news."

There was a period of tense silence.

"Uh… hi by the way," Eugene said, with a little wave to Anna.

"Oh, yes! Hi."

With nothing else coming to mind, the three fell into silence once more.

Finally the Queen re-emerged, her face noticeably paler than it'd been just a few minutes ago.

"Mother!" Rapunzel cried. "What-"

"Not right now," she said with a smile and one eye locked on the sea of guests. "It will cause a scene."

Rapunzel's eyes were wide, but she slowly nodded. Then the Queen turned to Anna.

"You on the other hand. Peter is waiting in the room beyond that door. I need you to go and hear him out."

"Anna?" Rapunzel said.

"Me?"

"Yes, you'll understand as soon as you hear it. We'll be back as soon as our absence can go unnoticed."

With a sweep of her arm, the queen scooped Rapunzel into her arms and herded her away. Eugene followed with a sympathetic shrug.

Anna was alone once more.

With her cake.

Feeling as though she was about to need the energy boost, she gobbled down as much as she could in one go. Placing the rest on a table full of similarly half-eaten dishes, Anna took a deep breath and walked through the door.

The servant from earlier was nervously pacing the length of a small hallway. The Queen had called him Peter… He glanced up as the door clicked shut behind her.

"Princess Anna?"

She nodded.

"Her majesty said you have some experience in these matters. For all our sakes, I hope this is true."

Before she could respond, he thrust the small strip of paper into her hands. The dim light of the hallway made it a bit difficult at first, but she soon read:

"Disaster and chaos in Wallonia. Unnatural blizzard- Blizzard?!" Her head whipped up only for Peter to gesture for her to keep reading. "Unnatural blizzard has frozen the kingdom. Storm only seems to be spreading. We pray this reaches you in time to prepare."

Anna flipped over the paper, scanning it for any other sort of details or explanation, but that was it.

She looked at Peter again. "Where did you get this?"

"Messenger bird," he said. "Less than half an hour ago. Poor beast looked like it'd been to hell and back. Brought the message straight to her majesty."

"The storm is spreading… They mean it's coming here?"

"We can only assume."

Anna bit her lip, pondering.

"And there's no possible way whoever wrote this meant it as a joke?" she finished hopefully, if a bit lamely.

"Wallonia is one of our closest allies. They would not 'joke' in serious matters such as these."

Anna frowned and reread the few small lines.

"The Queen said you'd experienced this before," she heard Peter say.

"Yes. I mean, no. I mean…" Anna took a deep breath. "I've dealt with magical blizzards, sure. But those were less about the storm aspect and more about the person behind it all."

"Couldn't there be a person behind this?"

There was a good deal of possibility in that, Anna had to admit. If Elsa had managed to hide her powers from the entire world for over 20 years, it was reasonable that someone was out there with similar powers. That there was someone just as scared and isolated as her sister had been.

"But even then," Anna said. "What can I do?"

"That, my lady, is what we hoped _you'd_ be able to tell _us_."

Anna waited in the suddenly claustrophobic hallway. She waited for the Queen and Rapunzel to come back. She waited for some great plan to strike, for her brain to suddenly explode with ideas. She waited for another servant to arrive, this time with a message saying that - despite Peter's assurance - it was indeed just a joke.

What _had_ been her great plan last time? All she'd done was jump on the back of a horse and take off in the general direction of the mountains. No preparation, no supplies other than a light cloak… Even Kristoff had criticized her so called "plan."

Granted everything had worked out okay in the end, but that was _after_ she'd almost been eaten by wolves, and Elsa had accidentally frozen her heart, and she'd turned to ice and almost died, and Elsa had almost died… Overall, a lot of things had happened over the course of those three days that -had she not been as lucky as a hundred year old sea captain with a lifetime of winter storms under his belt - could have easily turned fatal.

Personally Anna liked to believe that luck was her secret magical power, but even she didn't want to tempt fate that hard. Charging out blindly into this storm was probably not the best solution out there.

And yet… what were her other options?

"Okay, can you please tell me what is going on now?" came her cousin's voice.

Anna turned to see the Queen and Rapunzel making their way through the door. With no further prompting, Anna passed the message to her cousin who quickly read it and paled.

"A blizzard? In summer?" She glanced up to meet Anna's eyes. "But you've gone through this before, right?"

Anna took a deep breath as she tried not to scream.

"What happened last time was different," she said. "I was the one who got Elsa upset, who triggered everything. When she ran away, I knew I had to go find her. That whole _thing_ was always just about us. All the snow and ice… okay, yes, they were important - the whole kingdom nearly froze to death, but at the heart it was always just about the two of us. And I wasn't even the one who ended up thawing the ice, Elsa was."

The Queen looked thoughtful. "Is there anyway Elsa can come here?"

Anna's face lit up temporarily before fading again. "I don't think that would work," she said glumly. "It'd take at least a week to get a message to Arendelle and then another week for Elsa to actually travel here. And that's assuming the seas stay calm and clear. If this is a magical blizzard and it's anything like what we in Arendelle experienced, two weeks is far too long to sit around and do nothing."

"Surely it wouldn't hurt to at least send the message though."

"I don't think-"

Anna paused. She'd always been against sea travel in less than perfect weather. How could she not be? Her parents… And then to put Elsa at risk…

But who was she to stop Elsa from coming? If they couldn't find a solution, Elsa was potentially the only person in the entire world that could put a stop to it. She'd be saving the lives of thousands… (Far more than you've ever been able to do, a nasty part of her whispered.)

It was worth the risk.

"Alright," Anna said. "We can still send it. But we need to do something else in the meantime."

"Well then," her aunt said. "Corona defers to your judgement. What do you think is our best course of action?"

"I… I…"

There were a lot of really terrible things about her last plan. It hadn't even really been a _plan_… It'd nearly gotten everyone _killed_…

But at least it'd been something.

"I need to go to Wallonia and find out where this blizzard came from," Anna said, a new confidence pushing up from underneath each word.

"Just you?" Rapunzel asked.

"Oh, no. Others are definitely welcome to come along!" Anna said. "But you're half right. Even if what happened with my sister isn't exactly the same as what's going on right now, I'm the only one here who has any experience with magical blizzards. I might see things and connect things that others wouldn't. And if there is a person who's unintentionally causing this, I can talk to them in a way that no one else can't."

"I can provide you with guards to accompany you," the Queen said. "Peter will see that you have plenty of warm clothes and provisions. The border of Wallonia is a two day ride from here, but if this storm is as bad as the message says, it may take longer."

Anna bit her lip. "I should leave tonight then. Are any your guards experienced in navigating winter storms?"

"Not many I must admit," she said. "But we will find who we can."

"Vladimir is originally from the North," Rapunzel said turning to her mother. "And maybe Maximus could go with her too. I know he's still recovering from that training incident with the new steel frying pans, but I know he'd be a lot of help. And maybe I-"

"You will stay here," the queen said firmly. "As the Crown Princess, it is your duty to help take care of your people. Once word of this storm breaks out, it is going to take everything in our power to keep order and keep everyone save."

Rapunzel sighed. "I suppose you're right," she said. "Just… stay safe, Anna. Okay?"

Anna smiled. "I will," she said. "Just you see. It will be summer again before you know it."


	2. Act One: Part Two

Anna sat tall on Maximus, her guards beside her, as she gazed out over the coastal plain. Even from her hilltop vantage point, it was hard to make out the precise shape of the coastline in the sea of white. The wind whipped at her frost dusted hair, rubbing raw the small portion of skin around her eyes that was unfortunately exposed.

She continued to scan, looking for any signs of life or settlement until…

"There!" she said through her scarf, pointing.

The leader of her guards, a brawny man by the name of Thomas, pulled up alongside her. He squinted, then nodded.

"Do you know it?" she asked.

"I might," he replied. "There are several cities in this region. That one… if I'm judging the size right and we haven't veered too much off course, it must be either Stralshagen or Amersdam."

"Friendly?"

"To be sure. Although… who knows after all this."

Anna glanced back at the rest of her party. The six of them had set out from Corona nearly five days ago: a princess, four standard castle guards, and a very large reformed brigand. Anna had been somewhat shocked by his towering size when she'd first seen him, but Rapunzel had assured her that he had the heart of a ceramic unicorn. Anna wasn't quite sure what ceramics had to do with anything, but she went with it.

There was also a sort of seventh. Anna was currently riding the most abnormally intelligent horse she'd encountered in her life. When they'd left, Anna had assumed the guards would be doing most of the navigation. She guessed that assumption was still technically correct; Maximus was apparently one of the senior ranking commanders of the royal guard.

The first day of their journey had been uneventful, albeit a bit chilly towards nightfall. It hadn't been until they'd all woken up in the middle of the night with a fresh dusting of snow coating the ground, that the reality of dealing with _another _magical winter had fully hit her.

The snow fall had only gotten more and more intense since then.

They'd managed to reach the capital of Wallonia by the end of the third day, but no one in the castle had known where the storm had come from. Or rather, they didn't know the cause. They'd know exactly where it'd come from, the whole thing swooping in mysteriously from the northeast. The king had practically pointed them in the direction to go.

After a quick rest and a courteous thank you, Anna and her party had set off again the next morning, stopping at every village and tavern they came across, hoping for any tiny bit of information they could. They'd left each one just as empty-handed as they'd come.

Anna hadn't lost that much hope yet though. When she'd first gone off to find Elsa, Kristoff had pinpointed her location by tracking the source of the storm. It only made sense that it'd work the same this time.

Until they picked up their first real clue, they'd just have to keep heading upwind. Upwind where the storm only continued to build in power.

The strategy definitely had its downsides. With each passing mile, travel became exponentially more difficult. They frequently had to get off and walk alongside their horses in an attempt to give the poor animals somewhat of a rest.

Anna was exhausted now. They all were. This town was the last thing between them and the sea. If it didn't hold any of the answers she was seeking…

No. The path had led her this far for a reason. She'd find what she was looking for.

Anna peered at the barely visible coastline one more time. Arendelle lay somewhere far beyond its murky black depths. Had her aunt and uncle sent a message to Elsa yet? Had it reached her sister, or was its messenger currently clinging to the side of a boat as it was tossed this way and that by the rising storm like a plaything in a toddler's bathtub? Anna sent out a silent prayer that whoever'd been chosen for the delivery remained safe.

"Princess?" Thomas asked through chattering teeth, clearly awaiting a command. She could tell they were all eager to get off this hill, where the wind cut the strongest.

Anna drew herself up as regally as possibly despite her many layers of padding. "We'll head towards that town," she said. "Ask for some more food and supplies and any information they might have."

Her companions nodded - her short speech so similar to every other one she'd given on this mission thus far - and set off.

As they approached the city, Anna noticed it was surrounded by a very tall, stone wall. Far from being intimidated, Anna let out a small sigh of relief. The biting wind of the storm was worse than the actual temperature at times. Some of the villages they'd passed through had no protection against it, the harsh gales cutting through every last gap and seam of the small wooden huts they could find.

At the very least, maybe she'd manage to have a somewhat warm roof over her head tonight. Perhaps in the morning she'd even be able to put on boots that hadn't froze overnight.

A large oak gate barred their entrance from the city. After a brief search, Maximus spotted a small panel towards the right of the frame and pointed his body directly at it: a perfect shape and height for a gatekeeper to peer out of. Anna went to knock, but Thomas insisted that such a task was a guard's duty, not a princess'.

"It's really not-" Anna stopped. Whatever made him happy and got them inside the town quickest.

She watched him dismount and rap his padded knuckles on the gate, and the wooden panel quickly slid back. A pair of squinting brown eyes judged them from the other side of the peephole.

"We're not taking in anymore refugees," a man's voice barked. "I'm sorry but you'll have to find shelter elsewhere."

The panel slammed shut.

It only took Thomas a few seconds to recompose himself before he began knocking again, but the gatekeeper was now turning a deaf ear.

Anna shivered and tried to think of their options.

"I could probably knock whole thing down," came a deep, rumbling voice from beside her. Vladimir had ridden up without her noticing. "This craftsmanship. Very shoddy."

Anna forced a smile. "Thank you, Vladimir," she said. "But I don't think that's the best way to make a first impression."

"I assure you. I will make very deep impression."

"And I will keep that suggestion in mind, but let me try one more thing first."

She hopped off Maximus' back and over to where Thomas stood. The guard quickly began stammering and apologizing for his failure, but Anna waved him silent. Then she turned her attention towards the gate.

"Hey! Hey! I know you can hear me over there!" she yelled in-between pounds. "We're not refugees, okay? We're on a quest to stop this winter, so could you just-"

The panel slid open. Anna let out a brilliant smile that faded slightly at the wretched glare that answered her.

"Stop this winter? How?"

"Well…"

Other than "find information," Anna still hadn't really developed much a plan. Not that it was her fault. It was hard to when you had virtually none of said information to work off of. But her previous record counted for something, didn't it? And at this point, Anna figured whatever information she did discover would be so amazing that everything would fall into place after that.

The gatekeeper apparently saw through her not-quite-there-yet thought process and moved to slam the panel back yet again, but not before Anna's arm shot out and wedged itself in the hole.

She cried out in pain but kept her arm firmly in place.

"Get your arm out my gate, woman!"

"Not until you listen to what I have to say!"

"Oh, I've listened and it's clear you have nothing. Now go!" he shouted, slamming it again and again on her arm trying to force her to withdraw.

From behind her, Anna could hear the sound of steel being drawn.

Oh, dear. Aunt Primrose had made them swear a vow to protect her no matter the cost, and now here she was letting her arm get nearly broken by the feel of it.

"Just stop! I know- Ow! My name is- Anna!" she hissed out. "Princess of- Arendelle!"

The gatekeeper stopped.

"Did you say 'Arendelle'?" he asked.

"Ugh… yes."

"As in the kingdom of Arendelle? Up north and all?"

"Yes!" she cried, exasperated. "Why?"

"Why did you say that to begin with? They've been talking about Arendelle?"

"…they?"

But the gatekeeper didn't answer, instead shooing her arm out of the panel and back towards her side. Anna turned back to her party, both shocked and unshocked to see _all_ of them with their weapons drawn. Even Maximus had managed to find a spare sword and was currently gripping it in his teeth. Holding up her injured arm, in pain but seemingly unbroken, she gestured for them to resheath everything. Then she heard the sound of ropes and gears creaking and looked back to see the gates opening at last.

When there was only a horse's worth of space, they stopped. A gnarled hand reached out, beckoning them to enter. While it wasn't the grandest of welcomings, it'd do for her. Grabbing Maximus's reins, Anna led the way into the town.

Inside a bowed old man, the gatekeeper, gestured to a young boy and asked him to man the gate.

"I'll be taking them to the steward's castle," he said.

As they started to make their way through the city, Anna shivered. Of all the places she'd passed through, this one was definitely taking the worst of the storm's blows.

Despite the continuous snowfall, the city's streets were packed with people. They had to cut themselves a path, the crowd shifting around them like sluggish water as they passed.

Small, makeshift fire pits dotted every sidewalks, with at least a dozen people clustered around each. No one had any proper winter gear, but had instead looks as though they'd piled on every single article of clothing they owned. There seemed to be no discrimination: young couples, children, grandparents…

"Why aren't they inside?" Anna asked.

"I told you before. Refugees."

"What? That's inhumane! This is a blizzard! Can't your people share your homes?"

"Inhumane! Don't you judge before you know half the facts, your highness. There's half a country's worth of people here and more inside where you can't see them. We've been cramming them all in before nightfall, but no one can move once we do. They take it in turns. Rotate."

"But…" she paused, taking in the entirety of her surroundings. Every where she looked there were more people, more fires… From somewhere in the distance Anna heard a baby cry out and she flinched. "Where did they come from? Even a snowed-in farm house has to be better than huddling for warmth like this in the streets."

"They didn't come from farm houses," the gatekeeper said. "They're island folk. Fled here from several weeks back and brought this storm of theirs with them. Fools we were to let them in."

"Well, I don't think it's fool- Wait, what? You said they brought the storm with them?"

"They might as well have. It started there before it reached here."

Anna saw Thomas visibly twitch out of the corner of her eye and gave him a quick nod of mutual realization. She glanced back at the gatekeeper who was now calling out in greeting to a random old man waving at them from a nearby window. Some island refugees stared at their party; Anna didn't know whether to blatantly stare back or seemingly ignore them.

"What island did these people come from?" Anna asked. Reminded of their unfinished conversation at the gate, she also added, "And you mentioned someone's been talking about Arendelle?"

"Islands."

"Excuse me?"

"Islands, not island. And they're a bit odd if you ask me," he whispered with a side-eye glance to all the half-starved people surrounding them. "Call themselves South Islanders, only their kingdom is north of here. Doesn't make any sense, does it?"

A queasy feeling started to wrap its way around her gut.

"The Southern Isles?" she asked.

"Yeah, that's it."

Maximus whinnied as Anna unconsciously jerked down hard on the reins. He snorted in resentment as Anna ran her hand down his neck, whispering soft apologies.

The gatekeeper stopped walking and raised an eyebrow. "I take it you know these people like they know you?"

"I…" she trailed off, conscious of the many eyes and ears around her. "It's a long story."

The gatekeeper didn't continue at first, clearly waiting for more explanation, but when it was obvious that Anna wasn't about to give one, he slowly set off again.

"Are you alright, your highness?" Thomas whispered, jogging up alongside her.

After a brief hesitation, Anna nodded. "I'm fine," she said. "It's just… I might have found our first lead."

"That's wonderful though! This is exactly what we've been searching for!"

"Not quite," she muttered.

Okay. Anna would admit. Just because the Southern Isles were involved and just because this gatekeeper had said the storm originated there, didn't _gurantee_ that some regicidal ginger jerk was behind it all. He very well could be, but it wasn't a foregone conclusion. When they'd originally left Corona, they all thought the storm had originated in Wallonia, and look how far they'd travelled since then. Perhaps the Southern Isles were just the next domino in a line of besieged kingdoms.

And yet, the coincidence was just too… well… coincidental to ignore.

"What about prisoners?" Anna asked the gatekeeper. "You know, convicted criminals and the like. Are they here too?"

The gatekeeper let out a noncommittal grunt. "They're the worse of the lot if you ask me. Had the majority of them put to work, but they still take more resources than they give back."

"And the royal family?"

"Up in the castle where we're headed. They're the ones that have been talking about you," he said. "Or rather, your kingdom. What's so special about it anyway?"

As the gatekeeper had no end in his list of criticisms for the people of the Southern Isles and - as far as she could tell - they hadn't even done anything wrong, Anna wasn't sure how comfortable she was revealing that her very own sister once conjured a kingdom-wide blizzard just like the one currently plaguing them. So she settled with, "Oh, I guess you could say we're pretty much the top-most experts there are on snow."

She could tell that he could tell that she wasn't telling the whole truth, but at least he didn't push the issue.

"Whatever," he grumbled. "I don't care what you have up your sleeve, as long as it works."

"I do too," Anna whispered to herself.

* * *

><p>"Princess Anna of Arendelle," the servant announced.<p>

"Arendelle?" a man's voice said. "Isn't that-"

Anna swallowed apprehensively as she was ushered into a small, yet finely furnished room. Six men of varying ages were scattered about it, sitting, standing, lounging… Each one turned to survey her as she entered, and - despite some small variations in precise hue and shade - each one's hair shared the same auburn base.

"Hello," Anna said simply with a nervous smile and a wave.

There was a silence as stares were exchanged, and then one of the older ones suddenly scoffed.

"Fat lot of good she is," he said. "It's the other one we need right now."

Anna's jaw nearly dropped.

"Georg," another one said. "No need to be rude about-"

"He does have a point-"

"-not her fault for being-"

"Lovely to make your acquaintance really," said a particularly handsome one, coming forward to shake her hand.

"Knock it off, Fritz," another groaned. "After Hans, I highly doubt-"

"-only being practical. Nothing rude about-"

"-she's wised up to such advances and-"

"-come all the way here! The least we can do is-"

"Umm…" Anna ventured.

"-really comparing me to _him_?! Of all the-"

"-don't trust a peasant to do a soldier's work, so what difference-"

"-shouldn't have acted that way then if you didn't want-"

"I thi-" she tried again.

"-bringing war into this, now are we?"

"-and just because I flirt, doesn't mean I'm about to go _stabbing_ people in the-"

"-because if you haven't cared to notice, we might as well be in one with this dam-"

"Everyone, stop talking! _Now!_"

The six brothers turned as one. Anna held her chin up high over their shocked and slightly disoriented faces.

"Thank you," she said with an exasperated breath. "Now that I have your attention, would someone please explain everything they know about how this storm came to the Southern Isles. One at a time!" she quickly added as two brothers started to simultaneously open their mouths. "Please."

All of the brothers glanced at each other, silent battles of power and domination and one-upmanship brewing behind their eyes, before they ceded beneath the one called Georg. He was somewhat portlier than the others but sported an impressive set of well-trimmed mutton chops.

"There's nothing really to tell," he sniffed. "One morning it was as bright and sunny as any other summer's day, and the next there was frost on the ground. The day after that brought the first snow. When the seas began to pick up, we knew we had to flee. It's different on an island, you know. Once the seas become too treacherous, there's no chance of aid and no chance to change your mind… We took our chances and here we are."

"That's it?" Anna asked.

"That's it."

Anna bit her lip, pondering.

"Okay," she said. "But what about where the storm came from? Do you think it started in the Southern Isles or did it spread from somewhere else? What about Hans? If he did something-"

"With all due respect, your highness, it's your sister with the powers, not our brother."

"I know, but-"

"You're welcome to talk to him if you honestly think he knows something," said another brother. A bushy mustache threatened to swallow the rest of his face. "But I highly doubt it. Before you protest, I know what he did to you and your sister - and for that we can never apologize enough, but he's been under lock and key for the past two years. I'm sure you remember our letter? Well, I can tell you, the first time he even set _foot_ outside his bedroom was during the evacuation."

A couple of the other brothers nodded noncommittally.

Anna was forced to admit there wasn't too much anyone could do when confined to a single room… although she personally thought a full on prison cell would've limited those possibilities all the better. Still, she wouldn't trust that man even if Saint Nicholas himself put him on the nice list for the next fifteen years running.

"I think I _would_ like to talk to him," Anna said looking at one of the older brothers - who looked sympathetic - and attempting to ignore one of the, well, middle-of-the-pack ones - who was currently rolling his eyes.

"Your waste of time," Georg said. "Not ours."

"Hans is currently in one of the side rooms off the east wing," said one of the friendlier ones, a gangly young man with a crane-like nose. "I can escort you there if you wish."

"Thank you. That would be-" Anna paused, realizing the word 'wonderful' didn't exactly apply in this circumstance, "-most appreciated."

Anna took his arm when he offered it and let him lead her from the room. She tried not to thoughts linger on the couple snorts of derision that followed them out.


	3. Act One: Part Three

He was sitting on a small chair in the center of a sparse and depressingly grey tower cell. His back was towards them, and he made no effort to move as the door creaked open.

"Hans?"

"For the last _time, _Leon! I don't want to-"

Anna watched the youngest prince of the Southern Isles freeze as he turned around and locked gazes with her.

"Oh?" he said, his entire demeanor instantly cooling. "What is she doing here?"

"She said she wants to help."

"By doing… what, exactly?"

"You know, Georg said the same thing when he saw her."

"Well, of course Georg would say the-"

"Ahem!" Anna said. She sensed the inter-brother chatter was about to become a reoccurring annoyance if she didn't speak up for herself more. "I am here, you know."

"Then talk," Hans said. "Anyways, Leon, I've been meaning to tell you. The draft in here right before dawn is simply awful. Is it just me, or is the wind switching directions from time to time, because it's-"

"I was wondering what you know about this storm," she said firmly, suppressing the need to scream "shut up and listen to me!" like a petulant child.

Hans flicked her a disinterested glance.

"Other than the fact that's it's damn cold? Not much."

"Did you cause it?"

"That's a rather direct accusation."

"That's not an answer."

He smirked at her, taking the time to hook a nearby stool with his toe, drag it over, and prop his boots up before replying, "No. I didn't. Your sister's the one with the ice powers, not me."

Leon chuckled. "You know, Otto said the same-"

"Neither of us care which brother already said the same thing!" Anna snapped.

Her outburst seemed to surprise the two brothers. Anna took advantage of their splintered focus to finally take control of the conversation.

"Now," she said. "Leon. I would like to talk to Hans. Alone. Could you please wait outside until we are done?"

Leon looked uneasy, glancing back and forth between his brother and the door. "Are you sure that's the best-"

"Yes. It is. Are you suggesting that I'll be in any danger?"

"No, but-"

"Then what's the problem?"

"Nothing! Just… Are you sure you aren't…" Leon trailed off.

"Aren't…?" Anna pushed.

"Umm…"

The unspoken elephant in the room was clearly "are you sure you aren't afraid of the man who left you to die and then actively tried to murder your sister, all for the sake of usurping your kingdom's throne," but Leon seemed desperate to avoid directly mentioning it at all cost.

Truth be told, Anna _was_ a little frightened. However, she also had to talk to Hans, and it was clear he wasn't going to take her seriously while Leon was still there. (Not that it was guaranteed he'd take her seriously while Leon _wasn't_ there, but it was worth a shot.)

"If you have nothing else to object to," Anna continued. "I'd appreciate it if you left us now."

With one last stuttering, unfinished thought tumbling out of his mouth, Leon backed away. She watched the door swing shut behind him with a soft click.

"He did have a point, you know," came Hans' voice. "I could have a concealed weapon. And the human body does bleed out so quickly."

"Even so," she said, turning her attention back to him. "You have nothing to gain by my death, except perhaps revenge. And if you do kill me, then what? You might've been able to get away with attempted murder, but even _you_ wouldn't be able to escape the death penalty for an actual one. Oh, I can see you wanting revenge, but not at that price."

Hans stared at her, silence creeping over the two of them, and then laughed. The low, rich sound echoed around the small, stone room, raising the hairs on the back of Anna's neck. She fought the urge to pat them back down again.

"That was the most intelligent thing I have ever heard you say. Did you have that all prepared ahead of time or have you actually gotten somewhat smarter? No, don't answer that. I'm not really interested either way. But where are my manners? Come," he said. "Make yourself at home. I'd offer you some wine, refreshments, only you can see that my current accommodations aren't quite up to… royal standards."

"They'd be even lower if I had any say in it."

"Of course," he said with a smirk that made Anna want to punch him in the nose all over again. She'd only gotten to that one time, and that'd been nearly two years ago now. Anna felt like such a time gap warranted another.

"Let's cut to the chase, Hans. What do you know about this blizzard?"

"Again with the blizzard." He sighed. "I told you. I don't know anything. I can tell you don't believe me, but, with God as my witness, I'm just as surprised by all of this as you are."

Anna bit her lip in frustration and resisted the urge to start pacing. She settled with crossing her arms and tapping her foot every now and again.

If he was telling the truth, then pushing him wasn't going to be of any use. And even if he wasn't, yelling the same question at him over and over again wasn't going to solve anything either.

"What do you want?" Anna suddenly asked.

"Excuse me?"

"You've never done something unless you wanted something, so what is it this time?"

"Not following you. Do you really think I'm some sort of mastermind of some kingdom-wide hostage situation?" Hans rolled his eyes in exasperation. "How many times do I have to tell you before it penetrates your thick skull? I haven't done anything."

"I know, I know!" Anna paused. "Okay, well, you're right; I still don't believe you. But putting that aside for now. You're telling me you're perfectly happy as you are right now? Locked up in this room? You wouldn't change a thing?"

"What are you getting at?"

"What I'm 'getting at' is that you always have a plan. And don't give me that 'I'm just as surprised as you' thing again," she added as he open his mouth for a whole new stream of protests. Anna took a deep breath. "You were equally surprised when my sister first revealed her powers, but that didn't stop you from instantly scheming new ways to take advantage of it."

"You know, the word _'scheming'_ has this very inelegant-"

"Don't care. As I was saying, even if you go on and on about how you know nothing about this blizzard's origins, don't insult me by pretending that you _don't_ have some devious plan brewing in that twisted little mind of yours."

"I also object to your use of 'little'."

"Objection noted."

Hans didn't reply immediately, choosing to stare, unmoving at Anna. Anna held her ground and stared back.

All things considered, it was a rather equal stare-off. Anna had never been much of a good starer, tending to burst out with laughter after holding eye contact too long. Even now, the corner of her mouth threatened to twitch. Hans seemed much more competent, although any skills he possessed were greatly undermined by his current prisoner status.

Finally Hans sighed and pushed the stool that he'd been propping his boots on towards Anna.

"Fine," he said. "You might want to take a seat though."

Anna glanced at the stool, then to his boots (which admittedly looked pretty clean), and then back to the stool.

"I think I'll stand," she said flatly.

He shrugged, as though she was the strange one for rejecting his oh-so-courteous offer.

"Alright. So I might know something after all. Not about where this storm came from," he added before Anna could burst out in gleeful accusation. "But possibly how to end it."

"Based on my conversations with them, I assume you haven't told your brothers about this?"

"It was never relevant," he said with a wave of his hand.

"Not relevant?" Anna said in disbelief. She crossed her arms. "I'm not sure I can think of a situation where it'd be _more_ relevant."

"Let me specify that. 'Never relevant' until now."

"Wait. What's so different about-" she paused, a candle flickering to life in her brain. "Are you talking about me? What have I got to do with any of this?"

"Patience. I'm getting there. Now you know I've been under house arrest for the past two years, yes? You can't possibly imagine what it's like." He paused like he was contemplating something. "Although you did drone on and on about being trapped in your castle when we first met, so perhaps you do. Doesn't matter though. Being locked up like I was, there was very little to entertain me outside of reading, so read I did."

"Are you trying to say that during your reading adventures you just _happened_ to come across some magic book with all the answers to… this?" Anna asked, sweeping her hand in a low arc.

"No, not at all. That kind of coincidence would be absurd." Hans said, giving a dismissive shrug. Then he looked her dead in the eye and slowly grinned. "I actively searched for it. Oh, don't give me that look," he said before Anna could question him. "If all your carefully planned hopes and dreams had been tragically dashed because of one, single, neurotic girl flash-freezing her kingdom, you'd become slightly obsessed about those kind of magical occurrences too."

Anna chose not to comment on his description of her older sister. Tried to focus on what he'd just said.

"Okay, so you found some magical spell or something-"

"The location of a magical artifact."

"The location of a 'magical artifact.' Where do I come in?"

"The artifact is in a secret cave, protected by an enchantment."

"Not surprising."

"And the only way to pass is by the combined power of two separate royal bloodlines. Of course… I found all of this in a book of legends, so the cave might not even exist."

"My cousin was born with magic hair that could heal people, and you already know the deal with my sister. The fact that all this information supposedly came from an old book is kind of at the bottom of my list of concerns right now."

"Alright then." Hans leaned back in his chair and folded his arms behind his head. "What are your concerns?"

"Well, for starters? You could be lying about this book. You could be lying about this cave. You could be lying about this supposed 'enchantment.' This could all be some plot to escape your brothers and then murder me while we're out in the wilderness."

"Then bring along an escort."

Somehow that didn't assuage _any_ of her fears.

"You still haven't exactly said why I'm so special," Anna said, backing up a step, trying to poke holes in anything she could find. "I'm not the only royal girl in existence."

"No, you aren't. But you _are_ the only one currently here. Imagine my disappointment when we arrived in this miserable city and I found out the 'ruler' of this kingdom is a mere steward." He scoffed. "Trust me, you would not have been my first pick for this mission either.

"Too much bad blood?"

"No. Just that, if I'm to risk my own neck, I'd rather work with someone far more capable."

Anna drew in a deep breath, but refused to give him the satisfaction of her rage. She settled for pacing the small length of the room.

"Okay, then," she said. "I might be needed, but you're not. Send one of your brothers. By your own words, it should work just as well with them, shouldn't it?"

"Oh, Anna. I thought you knew me better than that. You honestly expect me to remain locked up in here while one of them goes out and reaps all the glory?"

She stopped at that and simply stared at him.

"Your people are dying."

"Everyone is dying. I'll die as well, winter or not, rotting away here, imprisoned. I need the chance to prove myself."

Anna examined him. How dare he have the audacity to smile. To sit and bargain as the wind howled outside… As the cold claimed more each day…

"Oh, you're proving yourself _just fine_ right now."

Hans said nothing as Anna stomped out of room, yanking shut the ancient door behind her. Instead of creating a satisfying slam, the thick slab of solid oak lost speed halfway through and gently nudged to a stop, depriving her of even that small pleasure.

"So… how did it go?" asked Leon cautiously, unfolding himself from where he'd been huddled.

"How much has your brother read over the past two years?" Anna snapped.

"Wait, what?"

"You heard me. Your brother. Books. How many did he go through?"

"I don't know… Lots? I mean, he didn't really have much else to do. We gave him whole stacks. None of us really counted. Why?"

Anna took a deep breath. "He _says_ he's read about some magic artifact that can stop this weather."

"A magic whatnow?"

"I know. Crazy, right? But the thing is maybe he _is_ telling the truth. I don't want to trust him, but I don't really know what else to do at this point, and if he does…"

"Hmm…" Leon was lost in thought. "If he did read it from our library," he finally said. "He'd be the only one. Not many of us were ever big readers. Erich used to hang out there a lot, but no one knows where he is now. And Karl was always addicted to the place, but he looked down on anything that wasn't hard science and anyone who wasn't just as devoted to it as he was. Insufferable little git. Packed him off to Rome years ago and haven't seen him since."

"So you're saying Hans could be telling the truth."

"I'm saying there's no way to prove it, so… yes. He could be," Leon said. "Though he could also just be trying to escape."

"That's what I thought!"

"But why did he tell you this? Okay, so I guess we never outright _asked_ him if he knew of some solution to this, but it seems absurdly petulant that he'd keep it all a secret until now."

"He said it's protected by some sort of enchantment. Needs people from two different royal families to break it or something. So yeah, that's where I come in. Look," she said. "Why don't you go in there and talk to him, get the full details. I'll, I don't know, tell the rest of your brothers. Maybe the twelve of you can get him to spill what he knows and then one of you can come on this journey with me instead."

"So you're already decided?"

Anna shrugged.

"A magical blizzard strikes; I trek across three separate, clueless kingdoms only to end up here; I meet the one person with any prior experience _and_ involvement with such weather; and he tells me he knows of a way to end it. What's left to decide?"

* * *

><p>As fate would have it, Hans' brothers were not able to get the cave's secret location out of him.<p>

Anna suspected at least half hadn't even tried, convinced that Hans was telling tall tales again in the hopes of getting attention. Several of the others had paid the barest of lip services, questioning their youngest brother for only the briefest of minutes. She'd cornered one, the current king of the Southern Isles, and had practically demanded him to march straight back into Hans' tower cell, but he'd managed to dismiss her with an expertly practiced politeness.

While King Philipp believed Hans was telling the truth as far the actual book existing was concerned, he didn't have as much faith in the legend itself. His red hair was greying around the temples and his shoulders sagged with the exhaustion of an entire kingdom. Anna had backed down; any protests would've fell on deaf ears.

Of the ten older princes currently in the city, there were only two that believed Hans' plan had some potential merit and, unfortunately, they were the least skilled when it came to prying information. The cave was somewhere south, at least a five day's ride from Stralshagen. That was all they'd been able to uncover. No specific location. No directions. No nothing.

"How can you let it just rest like that though?" Anna demanded. "He'd rather let people freeze to death than be excluded from some stupid glory quest! He's worse than conniving! That egotistical, selfish- Argh! There's no way I'm just standing aside and letting him get his way. And if that means not going at all-"

"Then you'd be no better than him," Otto finished, an older man with short stature and rather squarish face. He and Leon had been her only two supporters. They were currently the only two brothers left in the drawing room as she paced the length of the fireplace.

"We'll send our own soldiers to accompany you," Leon said. "An entire platoon."

"Don't be silly, Leon. The girl doesn't need _that_ many. Besides if this daft mission is to work at all, the swifter the party and less mouths to feed the better."

"Thank you for the offer, but I already have some guards who've travelled with me since Corona."

They were also guards that she could trust. While Anna didn't doubt the loyalty and honor of the Southern Isles men, with a honey-laced tongue like Hans' present, she wanted the deck stacked on her side as much as possible.

"Maybe it's better this way," Leon ventured. "Even if we'd gotten Hans to stay behind, who would've taken his place?"

Anna paused, confused. "One of you, of course."

Otto laughed. "A man of my age and health? I'd expire before we reached the edge of this kingdom, let alone some cave tucked away into the mountains."

"Okaaay, but what about you, Leon?" she said, turning to the other prince. "You seem strong and healthy. And you seemed rather behind it when I first brought up one of you taking Hans' place."

They was an awkward pause. Leon didn't meet Anna's gaze, diverting his attention slightly left towards the fireplace, and then at Otto, and then back to the fireplace.

"Yes, well. That was when- You see, there were ten of us, so I thought you'd be able to find _someone_. And I didn't know it'd be such a long way away."

As much as she hated not having any information, Anna was starting to wish that Hans had kept completely quiet. The lucrative distance had only served to increase his brothers' doubts about the mission.

And cowardice, it seemed.

"I see," Anna said icily.

She glanced from Leon to Otto, each prince struggling to maintain an air of good-natured helplessness.

"Well, if that's all," she continued. "I have a lot I need to do to get ready. The steward has invited me to stay the night. After that, I ride at dawn."

"Princess!" Otto cried as Anna began to exit the room. She paused, twisting her head slightly to let him know he had her attention. "I do hope you understand. We are on your side. Truly."

"Oh," she said. "I understand."

* * *

><p>On her way back to her chambers, Anna found herself wandering down the corridor that passed by Hans' room. She let her footsteps slow, treading softly as she approached the large, padlocked door.<p>

Anna stopped completely when she reached it. She hesitated, wondering if it was even worth it, wondering if he'd even be able hear her through the thick door.

Then she knocked, the sound quiet yet distinctive.

"Hans?" she asked. "Of all your brothers, I still hold that you are by far the worst. But…" She thought of the long, cold journey ahead of her. "That's not really saying much."

Even if he _had_ heard her, Anna walked away before he had the chance to respond.


	4. Act One: Part Four

**A/N: Thanks to the people who've reviewed so far. They're very appreciated. :)**

* * *

><p>"Then man says, 'Thank you, Doctor. But have you no medicine other than vodka?'"<p>

Anna burst out laughing, the flickering light of the campfire catching in her smile. The other soldiers in her guard chuckled, caught awkwardly between not understanding the joke and not wanting to offend the largest, most-hulking member of their party.

It was their second night since leaving Stralshagen. Despite their constant southern heading, the journey away from the city hadn't been much different from the journey towards it. The wind was slightly in their favor now, often pushing them forward instead of pushing them back, but that was about it.

A kind farmer had let them camp in his barn for the night, and they'd managed to make themselves rather cozy despite the snow outside. Anna had no idea how much longer such luxuries would last though. Hans' map - or at least the vague directions he'd reluctantly divulged so far - would be leading them straight into the mountains soon.

The main object of their destination remained a mystery as well. She'd tried to worm details out of the prince several times now with barely any success. All she'd managed to discover was that the so called "artifact" was apparently some kind of stone with various glowing runes carved into it. The explanation seemed to satisfy the rest of her party, but not her.

He had to be hiding something still. She just… _felt_ it.

Hearing a metallic clink, Anna glanced over to see the hero of his own fantasies himself, sulking in the corner under the not-so-careful watch of his guard, manacles oddly twisted due to the haughty, cross-armed position he was trying to maintain. It was clear before they'd even left that Hans would always have to have someone keeping an eye on him. It'd quickly become a rotating duty that her various guardsmen now bartered chores to avoid doing.

"Now, Princess," came the deep, rumbly voice of Vladimir. "You tell joke."

"Oh! Me?" Anna said, snapping back to attention. Everyone's attention was aimed at her, and she blushed. "Umm… Haha, talk about being put on the spot! Okay, I've got one! So there's this ice harvester and he's the leader of his whole local ice harvesting operation thing. One of the new guys doesn't have a hat, so his ears get super cold. Like almost frostbite levels cold. So the main ice harvester gives him the warmest hat he has, and for awhile he feels really happy. You know, doing this good deed for one of his fellow workers. But soon the harvester notices the new guy isn't wearing his hat. He's confused since the guy seems as cold as ever, so he asks him why he isn't wearing it anymore. And the guy says-"

"Someone offered him lunch but he couldn't hear it because of the hat," Hans finished.

The whole party groaned. Anna flashed Hans a dirty look. He returned it with a smirk and a shrug.

"What?" he said casually. "That's what happens when you pick such a common, stale joke."

"I swear," muttered a grey-haired guard. Rogir. "When he's not complaining, he's inventing completely new ways to be irritating."

"Well…" said another named Caldwell, glancing at the prince. "Since his mouth is the worst part about him… we could always just gag him." The young guard kept his face as innocent as possible, like he hadn't just suggested manhandling royalty.

All of them looked at each other before turning to Anna, as if asking permission. To be quite honest, it _was_ tempting… but she didn't exactly want to sink down to his level.

"You wouldn't dare," Hans said.

And his fate was sealed.

"Could someone hand me a strip of cloth?" Anna asked with a sweet smile.

Her request was granted almost instantaneously.

She waltzed over to Hans. He attempted to stand as she approached, scowling in all his indignant pride, but was quickly yanked back down by his current guard.

"You'll regret this," Hans spat out.

"That a threat? Coming from the man in chains?"

"You won't do it. Not to another royal."

Anna leaned in close, gently cupping his chin and raising it until his eyes met her own. They stayed like that for several moments, Anna taking in every crystalline facet of his perfect face. Then she smiled.

"_Oh_," she said, slamming the makeshift gag through his teeth and quickly knotting it in the back. "I already have."

* * *

><p>Life was so much more pleasurable without Hans' constant snide comments that the gag stayed on for the rest of the night and most of the next morning.<p>

As their horses plodded their course with Maximus in the lead, Anna occasionally glanced back to see the young prince glaring at her from the back of their train. She was always sure to return his muffled scowls with a cheerful smile.

Alas, all good things inevitably came to an end.

It was slightly past noon when they reached the last of their given directions and were forced to ask Hans for the next set. After a brief elimination game, Vladimir was chosen to remove the gag. Hans coughed and spluttered for a good half minute and then sulked in silence, refusing to talk.

It was all very good and dramatic, but Anna had grown far too tired from the journey to deal with his spoiled antics. Snow continued to fall, and her fingers had grown numb beneath her woolen gloves long ago.

"You know, for someone obsessed with constantly being the 'hero,' you're not being at all heroic right now," she said. "Even if you manage to help bring summer back, the six of us are only going to tell everyone how much of a whining baby you were about it."

"I have not been-!" He hesitated as he seemed to realize he was playing straight into Anna's comments, his pride quickly overtaking whatever personal slights he might have felt.

Instead they were left with silence again. Anna crossed her arms, waiting, but - whether it was out of stubbornness or contemplation - Hans did not say a word.

Sitron pawed the snow beneath his rider, and Anna had to force herself from sighing in exasperation. Even imprisoned, the poor prince had been allowed to keep his precious horse-y worse-y. The more Anna continued to learn about his punishment over the past two years, the more she found it a joke.

Not that room confinement was a walk in the park, but the sentence definitely lost its edge when said room was in a palace. One the one hand, now that she was on first name terms with Hans' brothers, Anna admitted that constantly having to deal with them could _maybe_ count as mild torture... but on the other hand. Palace.

He hadn't even been moved out of his usual room! And it wasn't like the Southern Isles was lacking in prime dungeon real estate. Okay. Once again Anna had to grant the brothers some credit. Apparently Hans _had_ been imprisoned in the dungeons for a grand total of one month… but one month! God! She'd been grounded as a child for longer than that!

If her sister had known about it, she would've never released him from his temporary cell in Arendelle, politics and diplomatic immunity be damned.

"We need to go south southeast for another half league until we reach a lake shore," she heard Hans finally say. "We'll follow that lakeshore until we reach its western point, and then ride another three leagues until we reach the entrance of an abandoned mining tunnel. That should take us all the way through to the other side of the mountain ridge."

Anna snorted at that.

"Yes?" he drawled.

"Nothing," Anna said. "Just marveling at how a common miner's tunnel managed to get itself included on an oh-so-ancient and secret map."

Hans sniffed, drawing himself up. "I may have made some alterations based on the current state of the area, but-"

"Alterations? So you planned for all of this?"

"No! How many times I do I have to-!" He paused again to collect himself, Anna's earlier words clearly still stinging. "I've been under house arrest. For two years. I came across an ancient, secret map that lead to an ancient, secret cave. I thought it was interesting. I don't know who _wouldn't_ think it was interesting. So I compared that map to other more recent - and more accurate, I might add - maps. Why is that so hard to believe?!"

"Coming from you? Gee, I _wonder_."

"Princess," Thomas said from somewhere on her right. "He's not worth your frustration. We should move on."

Despite the insult, Hans simply grinned and inclined his head in the direction he'd pointed out as though to say, "after you."

Anna tried to reclaim her cheerful facade but failed, her smile quickly dissolving into a scowl. She spurred Maximus forward and the rest of the party fell quickly inline behind him.

* * *

><p>They found Hans' tunnel sure as ever, but not even he knew how long it'd take them to pass through to the other side. Thomas and the others held a small debate over whether it was safer to camp there for the night or to press on until Anna reminded them that they didn't exactly have time on their side.<p>

Maximus had no difficulties entering the tunnel and the other horses seemed to be comfortable enough following him. They allowed themselves to be slowly led, one by one, into the far-reaching blackness. The guards had a couple torches that they lit, but their light only extended so far. Anna couldn't help but keep a continuous watch on Hans, sure that the prince would attempt to use something about the confined quarters and low visibility to his advantage. But to her relief - and small annoyance - he didn't try a thing.

After several uneventful hours, their party reached the exit just in time to see the sun begin to set behind another distant ridge. With only a couple minutes left of partial daylight, they made an unanimous decision to make camp inside the tunnel.

Not able to stand Hans' presence for a minute longer, Anna volunteered to help collect firewood with Branton, another one of the younger guards, as the rest hunted for dinner and got the camp set up. The storm hadn't quite made it over to this side of the mountains yet, and Anna reveled in the feel of bare grass and crunching pine cones beneath her boots even if she couldn't fully see them in the darkness.

By the time Vladimir returned with a fistful of dead rabbits, they already had a decent sleeping area laid out and a more than decent fire roaring.

"It'll be nice when all this is over," Rogir said, gesturing to the tunnel's exit. They were quite a ways away from its mouth, but every now and again a stiff chill would force its way past, causing them to shudder as one.

"Yes," said Thomas. "It definitely will."

They ate their rabbits in silence. One thought weighed heavily on the back of Anna's mind. She suspected it was weighing on the others too.

Anna picked at a bit of gristle and listened to the flames crackle. She was assuming, they were all assuming, 'when's and not 'if's. They couldn't deal with ifs at this stage.

As much as she hated facing it, as much as she would try to wipe the thought from her memory later… Hans really was their only hope right now.

"What this still doesn't answer though-" said Caldwell. "I mean, once we get the stone and bring back summer, we still don't know where this storm came from. Or what it came from."

"In Russia," Vladimir said. "Gods get angry. Curse land."

"You don't need gods these days to get a curse."

"But why curse every kingdom? And, if it is a person behind it, no one's come forth with any demands. There's no reason. My bet's on some freak astrological occurrence."

"I still think it's a person. If Princess Anna's sister can have magical powers, then who's to say that someone else can't?"

Something itched at the back of Anna's mind, tugging on some disconcerting feeling or wisp of a memory. She tried to shake it, but it only grew stronger.

"What do you think it is?" Anna suddenly said, turning to Hans.

It took him awhile to realize that she was talking to him.

"Me?" He raised an eyebrow. "I thought I wasn't allowed to speak."

Anna knew he was mocking her, but she played along. "I'm granting you permission, just this once."

"My lady honors me," he said, dipping his head in an informal bow. "What can I say though? I know just as little as all of you."

"So you've said. But that's why we're all guessing." She scrunched her nose. "Besides, what makes you so sure that this stone of yours will fix everything if you have no idea what's causing it?"

"I never said I was sure."

"And yet here you are risking your life with the rest of us."

He shrugged. "Everyone's life is at risk. If anything, it's probably safer here with you than back in Stralshagen where the storm is the strongest."

"Princess Anna…" Thomas said. "It's no use to-"

"Not now," Anna said.

He was going to tell her to ignore the prince, to drop it. But Anna didn't want to drop it. Pretending like everything would be fine… it wasn't good enough for her. This whole trip Hans had been keeping information from them. Was continuing to keep information from them.

Even now, when he was making quips about not worrying about danger because everyone was in danger, Hans was right in more ways than one. Everyone's life was at risk.

They were all, ultimately, depending on him.

"Well," Anna said with a sniff. "I don't know if I want to go any further if our guide is really so clueless about our destination." Her voice was mockingly petulant, and yet she still meant every word.

"I never said I was _clueless_," Hans muttered.

"Um, yeah. You did."

"Just because I choose to keep my knowledge to myself, doesn't mean that I don't have it."

"Says a person with no knowledge to begin with."

Hans seemed to struggle for some sort of comeback, and then fell into a grumbling silence.

Anna fought back a smug grin. She seemed to be getting pretty decent at roping the prince into unwinnable arguments.

"Fine," he said, his manacles rattling slightly as he readjusted himself. "The stone supposedly nullifies all effects of magic. That's why I think it will be effective at stopping the storm."

"All effects of…" Anna mind slowly kicked into gear and then something sparked. "You wanted to use this on my sister, didn't you!" she exclaimed in disgust. "_That's_ why you spent so much time researching those books and memorizing all the directions in your head!"

"I can't deny that the thought never crossed my mind," he said with an innocent smirk. "But of course that's all hardly relevant now."

"Like _hell_ it isn't! I-"

Anna paused mid-rant as she felt Thomas tap her on the shoulder. He looked mildly contrite for interrupting a member of the royal family, but yet firm in his decision to do so.

"Princess," he whispered. "A word in private. Please."

Anna shot Hans a glare. His smirk had turned far more devilish, but the annoyance level remained the same. She bit back a retort that would have made both a sailor grin and her sister blush.

"Fine," she muttered reluctantly.

She followed Thomas into a slightly more secluded portion of the cave. They were still within sight of the main group and campfire but out of earshot.

"You do know he's taunting you. Saying these things only to get a rise."

"Oh. You _think_?"

"Then surely you should know better to engage him."

"You think I want to? I don't have a choice! He holds all the information! I don't see anyone _else_ trying to pry it out of him. I mean, I've gathered that you're all fine going into this completely blind, but come on! You just heard what he said about the true effects of this stone! Do you _know_ what kind of trouble he could cause with that?!"

"I understand your concern, Princess," Thomas said. "But also remember that there are six of us and one of him. On top of that, he is currently chained and will continue to be so for the rest of our mission. We are more than capable of handling him."

"I know. I know…"

Anna glanced at Hans. By any account he should've been harmless. Thomas was right; he was completely outnumbered and completely out-armed… and yet there was an unsettlingly trepidation that wouldn't shake its way from her gut.

Maybe she was being paranoid.

Although… could it really be called paranoia if it had a justified basis?

"Just promise me that you won't let your hate overrule your better judgement," Thomas said. "He'll find a way to use your own emotions against you."

The guard's words struck a nasty chord within her, memories long past and buried bubbling up. The two of them sliding, giggling and breathless, down the wooden polished length of the north hall. The feel of his arms as he held her and twirled her around a floor of dancers. The pounding of her heart blocking out all other sounds as he knelt before her on one knee, gazing up at her, his face pure and earnest and… devious and plotting and-!

Anna fought back a primal scream and banished the memories straight back to the nasty little pit of her mind from whence they'd came. She'd been getting better and better at not thinking about them as the months had passed, although there were still days when she woke up wanting to rip a pillow. Maybe she returned home she'd finally convince Kristoff's adopted family to get rid of the memories for good. They didn't like using their powers when it wasn't necessary, but she make them see the reason in this.

She looked at where Hans was currently sitting and shuddered.

"Believe me," she said to Thomas. "He'll never use me like that again."

* * *

><p>The morning came all too soon.<p>

Anna protested and stretched and did everything possible to catch just a couple more seconds of blessed darkness, and then she was up. Even with their party moving as lightly and swiftly as possible, there were still chores to be done, mats and tarps to put away, essentials to account for. At least they seemed to be getting a little faster at it every day as they set into a sort of routine.

And then…

"Are you lot still not ready? The storm's going to catch right back up to us at this rate."

Hans' voice rang out against the sides of the tunnel, grating against Anna's nerves.

He was just standing there, a little ways nearer the cave mouth than the rest of them, next to Sitron and one of the other half-loaded horses. He was just standing there. Complaining. As the rest of them did all the work.

It was the last straw.

Maximus snorted beside her, fire in his eyes. Anna patted him on the muzzle.

"Don't worry," she said, soothing him. "I got this."

She marched over to Hans, Thomas' earlier warning be damned. She put her hands on her hips and glared straight up at him. He didn't seem to be phased one bit.

"Since you're not helping us pack," she said matter-of-factly. "You have no right to complain."

"Your problem. Not mine," he said, waving his manacled wrists in her face.

"Like we would really unchain you for that."

"Your problem," he said again. "Not mine."

"You know what?! I have had it up to _here_ with you!" Anna yelled, jabbing at a random point above her head in emphasis. "All you've done since you've come on this mission is complain. Complain. Complain! _Complain!_ Tell me this. Does this cave of your require the royal blood to be fresh?! Because I'm seriously contemplating just slicing open a vein of yours and letting you sit here in this cave until the whole thing is done! You want to know _why_ two of your brothers pretended that you didn't exist for years and years? Well, I can tell you why and it's certainly not a case of poor little Hans versus the…"

She paused. Had she just felt…?

"Run out of steam?" Hans asked.

"Ssh!" she hissed, cutting him off with a wave of her hands.

She focused. Perhaps it'd only been her imagination.

Then she felt them again. Faint vibrations.

Her eyes widened a split second before the tunnel started to shake. From all around came the grinding sound of rocks being dislodged. Anna barely had time to gasp, let alone scream before the roof caved in above her.


	5. Act One: Part Five

**A/N: This chapter got a bit longer than expected, but I suppose that's only a good thing for everyone reading. Hope you all are enjoying. Lots of dialogue in this one. I love writing dialogue so yay.**

**Also thanks once again to the people who've reviewed! It means a lot!**

* * *

><p>Anna coughed as the cave filled with blindingly thick dust clouds. Every couple of seconds she heard the several stray pebbles fall. As she slowly regained her senses, she could make out the sound of another man coughing nearby. Hans…?<p>

"What- what the hell was that?!" Anna managed to choke out.

"Earthquake. Obviously."

Yep. Definitely Hans.

"_Obviously_," she said. As the dust started to clear, a shape emerged to her right, fuzzy at first, but quickly gaining the telltale features of the ginger prince. "What I meant was, where did it come from?"

"The entire kingdom… no, the entire _continent_ has had its normal weather turned upside-down and you're wondering why nature itself is starting to rebel?"

Anna glared at him but didn't argue. If she thought of the earth as a huge scale, it did make sense in a way. Pile a bunch of snow onto one end and, eventually, the whole thing would flip over.

The quicker they got to Hans' magic cave the better.

And then she realized…

"Vladimir? Thomas?" Anna spun around, desperately hoping for a glimpse of either man. From any of her men. All that greeted her was a large wall of collapsed stone.

"It looks like they got trapped on the other side," Hans said, coming up beside her and casually stroking his chin.

Anna turned on the prince. "Don't you say that! Don't you dare say that!"

"What? The truth?"

"No! I mean-" Her eyes lost some of their fire as she glanced at the wall. Fear clenched her stomach as her mind raced through the worst possibilites. "Oh God," she whispered. "What if it's completely collapsed on the other side? What if they're hurt? What if they're dead?"

Anna rushed over to the nearest stone, curled her fingers underneath it, and began to heave. It didn't budge.

"We have to help them!"

"Anna…"

"They could be trapped!"

"Anna, even if they do need our help, there's nothing we can do."

"Shut up. I don't want to hear your voice right now!"

"Anna!"

Anna felt herself being yanked back as Hans grabbed a fistful of her clothes. With Hans' wrists still in shackles, the move caught them both off-guard and they fell to the floor. They sat there, a foot apart, the only sound in the cave their labored breathing.

"Even if you move one stone, there are still hundreds of others," she heard him say. "And the more you remove, the more unstable you make it. Remove enough and the entire thing will collapse again."

"But-"

"They're capable men. Proven soldiers and survivalists. If they are alive, they'll find a way to get out of this."

"But what if they're hurt?"

"If they're hurt, what could you possibly do that would help them?"

"I can get to them. We can rescue them."

"And then what?"

"What- what do you mean?" She blinked at him.

"Say you miraculously manage to get past this wall without the whole thing caving in again," Hans said, sweeping his hand at the stone barrier. "They're hurt. They can't walk. They can't move. Some of them are unconscious. What do you plan to do?"

"I…"

Anna bit her lip, not really wanting to face the truth.

It'd been a full day since they'd last passed by any form of human shelter. If the horses were okay, maybe she'd be able to get load them up and lead them all in a sort of train. Of course, that was assuming they were well enough to be moved. And even then the going would be slower. Perhaps two days to backtrack instead of the previous one.

And then what? Leave them at some poor farmer's house with practically no medical supplies and barely enough food to get by? She and Hans and whoever was left would have to triple back?

And that was assuming the horses were okay. If they weren't… If both they and her guards were injured… They'd be stuck here in this cave, the storm only getting worse and worse…

"I don't know," Anna said.

She half-expected him to start gloating at her well-intentioned naiveté, but for once he had the decency to remain silent.

"But I can't just walk away either," she said defiantly.

Hans groaned.

"Fine," he said, awkwardly pushing himself up to a stand. "You stay here. Move all the rocks you want. Get crushed. I'm not staying here for that - or worse, another earthquake." He squinted at the cave's mouth, a silhouette of white against the darkness. "I think our horses ran off over there. Might as well catch them before we end up in an even worse situation."

Anna settled for another glare at him as he left, then turned her attention back to the rock wall. As much as she kept hating to admit it, Hans had a point. The wall was a jumbled mess. Many of its stones were balanced precariously atop one another. One wrong tug on the wrong rock, and the whole thing could come tumbling down.

She reached for the same stone from earlier, but doubt had already crept into her heart. The tugs she gave were nowhere near her full strength. After about a minute of "work" she slumped down, her back lightly resting against the wall.

Suddenly, an idea struck. Well, it wasn't so much as an idea as it was a "why the hell was she only thinking of this now" thing, but still.

"Hey!" Anna yelled, turning to directly face the wall. "Can anyone hear me! Are you all okay?! Is anyone okay?!"

She waited. Five seconds… then ten. Anna slowly counted to a full minute, heart beating fast against her ears, then repeated her calls.

No response.

Goddammit all to... Anna grit her teeth as she pounded her fists into the dusty cavern floor.

Tears were starting to well in her eyes now. This wasn't how it was supposed to go. She wasn't supposed to have to choose, to abandon her fellow companions for the sake of some "greater good." How could she possibly just walk away?

But what could she possibly hope for by staying?

Anna remained like that for a good portion of an hour, fingers clutching the bottom of her cloak, trying not to burst into full on hysterics, yelling at the top of her lungs every few minutes in the hope of catching _some_ sort of response. None of it made any difference.

At last, she finally willed her legs to stand and, not bearing to look back, trudged out of the cavern and into the late morning sun.

"Ah, there you are," came the sound of Hans' voice as Anna blinked, eyes adjusting to the sharp brightness. "I was starting to get worried. I have the horses. Both unharmed as far as I've been able to tell. Tried to sort through the packs and get a new inventory, but it's hard enough keeping a hold of their reins with these cuffs let alone trying to navigate straps and clasps and God knows what else."

Anna didn't know if he was trying to bait her or not, and frankly she didn't care anymore. She glanced around the small clearing where forest met mountainside.

Something was slightly off, some detail that wasn't quite sitting right with her brain. She continued to study her surrounding, confused, before she realized that it was first time in over a week that she'd seen actual grass on the ground. She'd kind of seen it the night before, but it was nowhere as _green_ as it was now.

At least it'd be somewhat easier to travel on this side of the mountains. That was one positive thing she could take from all this, she guessed. Even so, it'd only be a matter of time before the storm pushed its way over the peaks. Now that she was committed, it was best to keep moving.

She made her way over to her new horse, Maximus had been caught on the other side, and started rummaging through its supplies.

"No tent," she said. "Though we have two tarpaulins that should help keep the worse out. Couple flasks and spark rocks, so we're good on water. Some extra clothes and a bit of jerky." Anna frowned. Vladimir, in addition to being the largest man, had the largest horse, so he'd been carrying the most amount of food. "Rope, ice axe, grappettes… Though I don't think those will be very useful. They look way too big for my shoes, not to mention all the powder will be super fresh. I assume you've got the same packed in yours?"

"More or less."

All things considered, it could've been a lot worse. They had their essentials. There was also a weird coil of wire and a small dagger at the bottom of the pack. She'd keep those buckled and hidden away from Hans. Maybe stick the sheath in her belt when he wasn't looking.

Overall, sleeping arrangements and food would be the most challenging, but there were still animals around she could maybe hunt. Perhaps… Kristoff had been good at trapping things… he'd never really shown her how though…

Anna shook her head. She'd deal with it when they got to that point.

"Can you get on?" she said, glancing at Hans' handcuffs.

"Now and every other day," he said, swinging himself up with impossible ease.

She pursed her lips in jealously. With a slight bounce to prep herself, Anna hopped onto her own mount. Reins in hand, she looked at Hans.

"Where to now?" she asked, voice level and to the point.

"We follow this valley out and then continue south." Hans flashed her his most debonair smile. "Will you take the lead or shall I?"

"You," Anna said. "I'm keeping your back firmly where I can see it."

"How many times must I keep telling you?" he said with a sigh. "I have absolutely nothing to gain by murdering you this time."

She couldn't help the shudder that ran down her spine. Murder. He made it sound so… blasé.

Not to mention the whole 'this time.'

"Back where I can see it," Anna repeated through gritted teeth.

As Hans' kicked his horse forward, Anna allowed herself one last glance at the cave entrance. It was her last chance to turn back…

Her gaze shifted upwards towards the mountain's peaks. A barely noticeable tinge of grey was just beginning to curl over them.

She took a deep breath and had her own horse follow.

* * *

><p>"I'm thirsty."<p>

"Then drink some water."

"I can't."

From up ahead, Anna heard the clanking of Hans' cuffs. He was shaking them to further help get his obvious point across. Anna let out a groan.

"You know," he said. "If you just removed them, I could-"

"No," she said sharply. "Besides, you and I both know that's a pathetic lie. I've already seen you drink countless times with those on. You didn't seem to have a problem with them then."

"But they feel so much heavier now…"

"You were in the navy once, right?" Anna said irritably. "I'm sure you went thirsty plenty of times then. Deal with it."

"Oh, Anna. I haven't had a sip all day. I'll practically die of thirst. Why… any second now I might even fall off my horse."

"Yeah right," she said, letting out a snort as she rolled her eyes in disbelief. "Like that will happ- Hans!"

Anna nearly screamed as Hans suddenly pitched sideways off Sitron. She yanked back on her reins, causing her own mare to rear back slightly. Once she steadied it, she jumped off and ran over to him, only to find Hans already starting to sit up. He was completely uninjured.

She stared at him in shock, and then her face darkened into a scowl.

Of course. Royalty. Horse lessons. They both knew how to take a fall.

"You know," Hans said with a wretched smile. "It's times like these that pocket mirrors really should be a traveling essential. I swear, the look on your face-"

He was interrupted by Anna throwing half a skin of water into his face.

"Still thirsty?"

He blinked at her, bangs dripping.

"You shouldn't have wasted that," he eventually said, his voice entirely flat.

"Oh it wasn't a waste," Anna said. She dragged him up by his collar and pushed him towards his horse.

He stumbled backwards, staring at her in disgust. At least the feeling was mutual now. She crossed her arms and stared back at him in equal revulsion.

Hans was the one to finally break eye contact. He turned away from her with an unintelligible grumble and mounted Sitron again.

They continued on for several more hours in silence. No requests for water. No directions. Nothing.

It was peaceful not having to listen to him, but also kind of unsettling. Without the other members of her party, Anna had no one to talk to. Her horse trotted on and she was left alone with her thoughts. Even that wouldn't have been so bad normally. She had a lot of practice when it came to entertaining herself. However, all her current thoughts were increasingly depressing and morbid.

Anna couldn't help but think of her guards. Vladimir… Thomas… She prayed to God they were okay. That it was simply the thickness of the stone wall that had made it impossible to hear anything on the other side.

What if they were injured though? What if they were dying? She'd sacrificed them to keep going, but what if she got to Hans' cave and nothing was there? Would they have died for nothing? What would she do then? She didn't really have any other backup plans. How many people would die because she screwed up? Decided to trust a man that deserved no trust from anyone?

How many people had already died?

Her head was pounding and she was feel somewhat sick from the stress of it all by the time Hans finally spoke.

"It's getting late," she heard him say. "We should find a place and start setting up camp."

"No. We don't have time."

Sitron stopped and her mare nearly bumped into him.

"What!" Anna spat.

"I knew you were stupid, but I never knew just how much," Hans said turning on her. "Are you _trying_ to get both of us killed?"

"What are you-"

"First you toss out half our water, and then you plan to push both of us through the night when neither of us know the terrain and that's not even taking into account our horses…"

"_First_," Anna said. "That was only half of your half of the water, so it was really only a quarter. Second, if you'd ever lived in the mountains, you'd know that there are streams all over the goddamn place. Honestly I'm shocked that we haven't crossed through four already. Third, even without the streams, if you'd ever lived in a snowy climate, you'd know that once that blizzard catches up with us, lack of water is _not_ going to be an issue. And last, once that blizzard catches up with us, our horses are going to get a lot more exhausted pushing through it versus a couple extra hours now. True, it's chilly, but it's still summer. We still have daylight ahead of us. We keep going."

"You seem to forget, _princess,_ that this is going to be the first night setting up camp without an entourage of strong-armed men to do all the actual work."

"Excuse you. I did plenty of work."

Hans rolled his eyes. "Oh please," he said. "You collected the firewood."

She puffed up in indignation, all ready to argue, but quickly deflated.

"Okay, yes," Anna said reluctantly. "But only because they didn't want me doing anything else." His annoying smirk told her that'd come out somewhat wrong. Like she'd admitted to being some kind of dangerous klutz. "Because I'm a princess and that was their way of respecting that," she quickly rectified. "Not because I didn't know how to do anything. _God_! And you're one to talk. Compared to you, I'm probably a wilderness survival expert."

"A wilderness expert. Really." He raised an eyebrow. "This coming from a princess who spent ninety-nine percent of her life shut away in a castle."

Anna shrugged, the barb not stinging nearly as much as it would've a couple days ago. "Date a mountain man and you pick up a few tricks."

Hans grimaced. "And here I'd hoped _those_ rumors, at least, had been exaggerated."

"Why?" she asked. Something about his interest intrigued her. "Wishing you still had a shot?"

"No," he said simply. "It's just that the thought of royal and common blood intermingling like rain in a sewage gutter disgusts me."

Anna's nose flared. She had to physically bite her tongue to keep from lashing out.

He was intentionally baiting her. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of falling for it, no matter how justified she be in whatever curses she hurled at him.

"I'm continuing on and that's final," Anna said, kicking her horse forward. "Feel free to stay and set up camp if you like. I'm sure you'll manage just _fine_ with those shackles."

* * *

><p>They made camp a few hours later.<p>

Hans was of no help whatsoever. Granted, part of that was because of his shackles preventing him from doing most tasks, but Anna needed to hold onto anything that kept her sane at this point, and if that just so happened to be blaming Hans for everything currently wrong and annoying with her life, then so be it.

Yes. As long as he'd kept his pretty mouth closed and there were no more earthquakes, she'd be grateful dammit.

They didn't have a tent, so Anna had to use her rudimentary mountaineering skills to create a shelter as best as she could. In addition to the two canvas tarps, they had a single sleeping roll. After a quick search, Anna found a tree with some good low branches. She slung one of the tarps over a branch and spread the other on the ground. She and Hans would have to share the shabby structure - she made a small gagging sound at the thought, but she would be keeping the sleeping pad all to herself. It helped that it'd been her mare's pack; it'd give her the logical upper-hand if Hans tried to argue for it later.

She gathered some sticks and loose rocks as Hans sat and merely watched next to Sitron. If he smiled or leered or glared or yawned or whatever-elsed at her, she ignored it. Soon enough she had a fire pit sent up and enough kindling to last them several hours.

If that'd been the end of it, Anna would've congratulated herself for a job well done. Unfortunately, right then her stomach growled. She'd been nibbling on jerky to keep the worst of her hunger away, but it'd been over twenty-four hours since her last full meal.

Honestly, Anna would've been willing to go the rest of the trip on just jerky, but they simply didn't have enough to last. She rummaged through the mare's pack, desperately trying to find anything she could use to hunt with. Kristoff had taught her a lot about the traveling aspects of mountaineering but practically nothing about hunting. Anna knew how to use a bow… kind of, but that was about it. The pack was all out of bows and arrows.

She knew there were probably all sorts of traps she could set, but she didn't know what any of them looked like, let alone how to make them. Maybe it'd have to be jerky from here on out after all. If she rationed it really _really_ well…

"Hey," came an annoying voice from her right.

She ignored it, tried to think of some way they could get more food.

"Don't pretend like you can't hear me. I know you can."

Anna relunctantly spun to face Hans.

"What," she said.

"I need you to unshackle me."

"Not this again," Anna said with a sigh of exasperation. "No."

"Then I guess you'll just have to help me. Never realized just how forward you were."

"What are you on about this time."

"A man has needs. Well. Everyone does really."

"Huh."

"Do I have to spell it out for you? Of course I do." He shrugged. "I'm still thirsty by the way. It's kind of amazing really. Did you ever know just how thirsty a person can be while really needing to piss because-"

"Ugh! No! Gross!" Anna shouted, blocking his crassness from her mind. "And the answer is still no! Your wrists are shackled in front of you, not behind you. Blegh! I'm sure you can manage on your own."

Anna continued to make disgusted sounds as Hans wandered off into the trees to… well, do his '_business_.' She shuddered. To say it so coarsely… how could she did she ever mistake him for a proper gentleman?

Why had he even asked her to…? Ugh. He knew he could manage perfectly well on his own.

No, she knew why. He was taunting her. Attempting to throw her off balance. Exploring her weaknesses by hurling barbed insults at every possible crack he could find.

Anna didn't really want to be waiting for Hans in the exact same spot when he came back, so she took some random gear from the pack and headed off in the opposite direction. Maybe if she wandered around a bit, everything would magically make sense and she'd be able to set up some successful traps.

It seemed her sister was the only one with the magic.

Defeated, she briefly took care of her own personal matters and then returned to camp. Hans was lounging next to the fire, his back resting against Sitron who sat behind him. He looked at the gear Anna had failed to do anything with.

"And just what were you planning on doing with that?" he asked smugly.

"Shut it."

She strode over to where she'd tossed the main pack and began to shove the useless junk back inside, avoiding Hans' eyes as she did so.

"Were you trying to make a trap? I'm not half bad, you know. I could get us some fresh dinner if you unshackled me."

"It wasn't amusing the first time you asked me. Now it's plain annoying. We never took unlocked when there were six of us, and I'm sure not doing it now that it's just me. Besides," she said, stuffing in the last of the junk and grabbing the bag of jerky. "Vladimir was the one who had the keys."

"Oh."

It was the first sincere word he'd said all trip.

Anna sat down across from him, nibbling on a piece of jerky as she studied him. She probably could've picked the lock, but Hans didn't know that.

Besides, it was interesting. The way he interacted with other people… it was like they were all these weird, easily-tricked guardians of various opportunity doors. He'd needle and cajole and manipulate to the best of his abilities if he thought he had the slightest shot of getting through one, but as soon as the door itself closed then the guardian was rendered pointless. He'd drop the charade. End the pursuit. Instantaneously.

It was logical in a way. Too inhumanly logical, she thought as her teeth tore their way through a rather thick tendon.

"Want some?" she asked, holding up the bag.

"I'd rather have some water first."

"Whatever." she tossed his half-empty waterskin over to him. He caught it with an awkward jangle of his chains. "Don't drink it all at once. I'm not refilling them until mine's empty."

If he was listening to her, he didn't respond. Anna went back to her jerky. If she kept most of the meat for herself and half-starved Hans then maybe there'd be a chance…

She dimly registered that he was saying something.

"What?" she asked.

"I'll take some of that jerky now," he said pointing at her bag.

Anna briefly considered refusing out of petty spite, but then started to hand it over. Her arm froze half-way outstretched, a sudden thought occurring. She wrinkled her nose.

"Wash your hands first," she said, gesturing her head in the direction of the nearby stream.

Hans grumbled slightly about mountain water freezing the iron around his wrists but mercifully obeyed. For a few blissful minutes she was left alone; only the crackle of the flame filled the silence. Unfortunately, he returned all too soon. Anna practically threw the jerky bag at his head when he asked for it a second time.

"This won't last us the rest of the journey," he said.

"Shut up and eat."

"Ignoring it won't give us more food."

"I know! I'm thinking about it! Okay?! I'll… think of something." She watched as he started to open his mouth and preemptively cut him off with, "And don't you dare ask me to take your cuffs off again. I told you I'm sick and tired of you asking that. Ask me one more time and I swear will punch you in the face!"

She took a quick pause for breath. Hans looked at her, slightly concerned, but also slightly haughty, as if he prided himself in his ability to push her to her limits.

"I wasn't," he said. "Like you said. You don't have the keys."

Anna moaned in frustration, all the stress that'd been building in her head tumbling out in one giant breath. She curled her knees up against herself and buried her face in them.

She didn't know if she could keep doing this. Not for another… how many days was it? They'd left Stralshagen about four days ago. If Hans wasn't lying, it'd take them at least another day, maybe two, to reach the cave. And then assuming everything went according to plan with that, they still had to get back.

Meanwhile her only traveling through all of this was a git. A murderous git that only ever opened his mouth to insult and annoy and manipulate the people around him.

She was sick of it. Sick of his voice when he said some sarcastic, nasty comment. Sick of the silence when he didn't.

"Just talk to me," she mumbled from beneath layers of clothes.

"What?"

"Talk to me," she repeated, lifting her head. "About something. Anything. Just let us have an actual _conversation_."

"I have been. You don't seem to approve of anything I have to say though."

"Just don't. Okay. You know what you've been doing, so I'm not even going to waste my breath correcting you."

"Fine," he said, shifting against Sitron. "What do you want to talk about?"

Anna rubbed her head. Great, she asked and he gave her a pick of just about anything. None of her normal icebreaker topics seemed like a good fit. Besides, too many of them reminded her of Elsa's coronation party.

"Tell me about your brothers," she finally said.

Hans raised an eyebrow. "Why would you want to hear about them?" he asked, the disdain in his voice clearly evident.

"Well," she said. "I still don't know all that much about them. And now I've actually met a couple of them, so it gives me a point of reference."

He stared at her, like he was almost waiting for her to pick some other topic, and then sighed. "Alright then. I have twelve, which - if you ask me - is twelve too many. Philipp is the oldest and the king, but he never married, so really Franz's kids are the ones looking to inherit-"

"Which ones did I meet?"

"How the hell am I supposed to know that?" Hans asked.

"Oh, right. Well, there's Leon," Anna said brightly. "He's the one that took me to your cell."

"Ugh, really?"

"Yes, really. He was quite nice… comparatively," she said thinking of the way he'd chickened out from the journey. Hans snorted.

"He tries too hard."

"What. As opposed to you?"

"Touché. Who else then? Go on."

"Umm… there was this really nasty one," she said, taking note of the way he smiled in response. "I forget his name. He had this enormous pair of muttonchops."

"Ah, Georg."

"Yep! That was him. Ooh… I could tell he hated me as soon as I walked it. The entire time I was there it was 'oh, what's she doing here,'" Anna said, lowering her voice in a gruff imitation. "'An Arendelle princess? Oh. She's the useless Arendelle princess. Where's her sister? Her sister's the one who can help us.' Well… Elsa is queen now, not a princess, but you know what I mean."

"Hmm…"

"You said three of them pretended you were invisible when you were little…"

"You remember that? Well, Georg was one of them. The one who started it actually. Manfried followed him because God help us all if he ever developed a spine. And I then guess Fritz joined in because he thought it was funny."

Anna vaguely remembered a Fritz, but couldn't match the name to a face. There'd just been too many of them.

"Do have a brother you at least _sort of_ got along with?"

"I guess," he said. He glanced up, seemingly pondering the question. "Erich was always the most down to earth. We got along decently well, I suppose. He left the islands when I was about ten though. He still visits for Christmas every couple of years, but that's it."

"Oh, why did he leave?"

Hans raised an eyebrow at her as if she'd just asked him why deer ate grass. "After everything you've learned, you really have to ask?"

Anna shrugged. "You've told a lot of lies. Honestly, sometimes I wonder if I've really learned anything at all."

"True," he said. "You're still listening to me. _That's_ not very good judgement."

"I don't have much of a choice with that right now though."

"Also true. What can I say? Twelve brothers… he felt the same pressures I did. Wanted to get away from it. Explore the world. Find his own path in life."

"Sounds like the white half to your black one."

"Oh, Anna," he said, clutching his heart with both his hands in fake pain. "Your words wound me."

Anna felt a smile creeping up on her face. She squashed it back down. He was still a jerk. Even if she _was_ kind of enjoying herself right now, she wouldn't show him.

"But you are right," he continued. "As soon as I got old enough, I escaped in my own way. Volunteered to be our family's ambassador for a random duke's birthday. Volunteered for a peace treaty anniversary celebration after that. Kept volunteering until they started automatically assuming I'd be the one to go to everything."

"And then you came to Arendelle."

"Yes." There was just the faintest trace of bitterness in his voice. "Arendelle."

"Was it…" Anna bit her lip, turned her face away from him to stare at the ground. The fire cast flickering shadows against it. "Was it all a lie?" The words tumbled out before she could stop them.

A dreadful silence followed. She could feel her face reddening.

"Look, I'll admit," he said. "I actually did rather enjoy myself the night of your sister's coronation. But let's be honest, we'd only known each for a total of what? Three hours? What kind of person forms a legitimate attachment after such a short- Oh, that's right. _You._"

His words pierced her straight in the gut. Just like that, the conversation was dead. She sat in silence, not moving her eyes from their particular point on the ground, then grabbed both of the waterskins. She tramped off to the stream, cheeks burning.

What had she been thinking?

Hans wasn't nice. He'd never been nice. Would never be nice. Anything she said, he'd eventually throw back in her face. She knew that. But no, she just _had_ to be addicted to basic human interaction and get all pathetic and practically _beg_ him for a conversation.

Anna knelt by the stream and filled up the skins, wiping away excess moisture from her eyes with the heel of her free hand. She tried not to directly look at him when she returned to camp, pushing past both him and the fire. She entered their small canvas structure and began to arrange things as comfortably as possible.

"Going to bed?" she heard him ask from outside.

Anna ignored him at first, but then… no. She wouldn't _completely_ sink down to his level.

"We have a long day ahead of us," was all she said as she plumped up her pack the best she could into a halfway decent pillow.

"What a shame. Just when I thought were we really just starting to hit it off again."

Anna bit back a howl of rage. She reminded herself that punching him would only end up hurting her own hand and lead to more difficulties the next day.

As much as she didn't like the idea of going to sleep before him - who knew what mischief he could do while she was unconscious, she didn't have that much of a choice. Even if she demanded him to come into the tent and sleep - ugh, she didn't want to imagine what off-color remarks he'd say in response to _that_ - Anna had no guarantee that he'd fully obey.

Close his eyes? Sure. Pretend to be sleeping? Sure. Actually fall asleep? Ha!

Might as well leave him next to the fire to keep an eye on it. Whatever the hell else he wanted, he'd do anyway.

Even with those completely logical thoughts, she was somewhat nervous as she curled up on her sleeping pad and faced the tarp wall. He could strangle her in her sleep and she'd have no way of stopping it…

Anna kept reviewing the decisions she'd made so far. Had she done something wrong? Had she overlooked something that could've prevented all of this? She missed Thomas and Maximus and the others. Maximus the most right now. He would've steered her straight, a bastion of justice and righteousness handpicked by her own cousin… And of course, she'd lost him.

But the more she thought about it, short of physically kidnapping one of the other princes and torturing Hans until he screamed out the directions to the cave in exchange for mercy… Anna couldn't really find anything she could have done differently. She guessed she could've never listened to Hans in the first place, but then she'd be stuck in Stralshagen with the rest of the Southern Islanders, just as clueless and helpless as she'd been when she first set off from Corona.

She was doing the best she could. She just had to keep putting one foot in front of the other. If she did that, everything would work out okay, just as it always did…

Anna shivered as a stray breeze found its way into her shelter.

So why did she feel so lost?


End file.
